ENGROSSED
H. B. 2065
(By Delegates Doyle and Manuel)
[Introduced February 13, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article twenty-two,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing
the additional county excise tax on real property;
dedicating the proceeds of the increase to county parks and
recreation projects, municipal parks, special park
districts, convention center maintenance; and providing for
accountability of expenditures to the state tax department.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article twenty-two, chapter eleven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be
further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
section eleven, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. EXCISE TAX ON PRIVILEGE OF TRANSFERRING REAL
PROPERTY.
§11-22-2. Rate of tax; when and by whom payable; additional
county tax.
(a) Every person who delivers, accepts or presents for
recording any document, or in whose behalf any document is
delivered, accepted or presented for recording, shall be subject
to pay for and in respect to the transaction or any part thereof,
a state excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to
real estate at the rate of one dollar and ten cents for each five
hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by such
document as defined in section one hereof, which state tax shall
be payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for
recording of such the document.
(b) Effective the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred sixty-eight and thereafter, there is hereby imposed an
additional county excise tax for the privilege of transferring
title to real estate at the rate of fifty-five cents for each
five hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by
such document as defined in section one hereof, which county tax
shall be payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or
presenting for recording of such the document: Provided, That
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty- nine, the county may increase said excise tax amount but in no
event shall the same exceed double the present tax rate. The
additional tax hereby imposed is declared to be a county tax and
to be used for county purposes: Provided, however, That after
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven,
the county may increase said excise tax amount at the rate of
fifty-five cents for each five hundred dollars' value or fraction
thereof as represented by the document as defined in section one hereof. The additional tax hereby imposed is declared to be a
county tax and shall be dedicated for county parks and recreation
purposes, municipal parks, special park districts and convention
center maintenance only, by the county where the additional tax
is collected: Provided further, That only such the state tax
and such the county tax shall be paid on any one document and
shall be collected in the county where the document is first
admitted to record, and the same shall be paid by the grantor
therein unless the grantee accepts the same without such the tax
having been paid, in which event such the tax shall be paid by
the grantee: And provided further, That on any transfer of real
property from a trustee or a county clerk transferring real
estate sold for taxes, such the tax shall be paid by the grantee.
(a) (c) The county excise tax imposed under this section may
not be increased in any county unless the increase is approved by
a majority vote of the members of the county commission of such
county. Any county commission intending to increase the excise
tax imposed in its county shall publish a notice of its intention
to increase such tax not less than thirty days nor more than
sixty days prior to the meeting at which such increase will be
considered, such notice to be published as a Class I legal
advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three,
chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area shall
be the county in which such county commission is located.
§11-22-11. Accountability.
Any county that elects to impose the additional excise tax
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, as provided for in subsection two, shall submit an annual
report to the department of tax and revenue regarding how the
revenues generated from the tax were used for county parks and
recreation projects.